I’m Trying To Love Spiders

Confidence7I’m Trying to Love SpidersWritten and Illustrated by Bethany BartonStrength Builder: Written to be read aloud, this funny bookwill encourage students to face their fears.MATERIALS I’m Trying to Love Spiders(leader’s copy and copies forstudents) Writing paper, crayons,and pencilsSESSION 1STRENGTH: ConfidencePOWER UPWelcomeGreet students by name as they enter. Ask themto put away their personal items and gathertogether.Read-Aloud TimeLeader: Tell students that this will be a weekto discuss the theme of Confidence. Say:Confidence is the feeling that you can thinkindependently and express your ideas withassurance. This book is about facing fears, andhow even pretending to feel confident can helpyou feel strong. The book I’m Trying to LoveSpiders is light and funny, and is meant to beread aloud and performed.Read the book aloud. Ham it up with this one.Show trepidation and panic at appropriatetimes. Talk about the narrator’s strategy forfeeling confident. Say: The narrator is obviouslyterrified of spiders, but still says things like,“Spiders are cool,” and “Maybe I shouldfocus on what spiders are good at.like eatingbugs!” This is a strategy for feeling confident.Sometimes, we can trick our brains into feelingconfident by speaking with confidence aboutthose things that make us afraid.14 Student Workout Books Independent Reading Library Chart paper or whiteboardLitLeagueLitLeague LeaderGuide G4 12 21 fixer.indd 14Model the strategy. Say: I’m terribly afraid ofheights. Write “heights” on the board. Say:So, if I were using this strategy on my next hike,I might say, “I LOVE being up this high. I can seefor miles up here.” Write these sentences underthe word “heights” on the board.Students Try It: Ask students to think ofsomething that they fear and write this fear intheir Student Workout Books. (Examples: dogs,being alone, the dark.) Then give studentstime to write a few “confident” statements forthe next time they encounter this fear. Whendone, ask students to practice these words ofconfidence by saying them aloud to a partner.WORK OUTIndependent Reading TimeGuide students to choose Independent Readingactivities from their Student Workout Books,and help them select appropriate books fromthe Independent Reading Library that matchtheir chosen tasks.COOL DOWNGroup TimeChoose an activity from the Songs and Gamesmenu.TM & Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved. LitLeague Leader’s Guide copyright 2018 by Pam Allyn, LLC. Published byScholastic Inc. I’m Trying to Love Spiders by Bethany Barton. Copyright 2015 by Bethany Barton. Published by ScholasticInc. by arrangement with Penguin Young Readers Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.6/19/18 3:40 PM

SESSION 2SKILL: Buggy Superpowerssentence aloud. Say: Those are pretty amazingsuperpowers. I feel better already.POWER UPWelcomeGreet students by name as they enter. Ask themto put away their personal items and gathertogether.Read-Aloud TimeLeader: In the book, I’m Trying to Love Spiders,the narrator decides to focus on the spider’ssuperpowers in order to feel more confidentabout them. Say: Spiders have eight eyes andthey spin webs. These are their superpowersthat set them apart from other bugs. Focusingon the positives is a way to flip our thinking toreduce our fear and feel stronger.Think of a bug that scares you and write aboutits “superpowers.” Say: I’m afraid of bees.When they come near me, I feel like I am goingto get stung. So, I can decide instead to focuson their superpowers. Write this on the board:“Bee Superpowers.” Then write: Bees makehoney and pollinate flowers. Then read theSESSION 3WORK OUTIndependent Reading TimeGuide students to choose Independent Readingactivities from their Student Workout Books,and help them select appropriate books fromthe Independent Reading Library that matchtheir chosen tasks.COOL DOWNGroup TimeChoose an activity from the Songs and Gamesmenu.ENGAGEMENT: I’m Trying to LovePOWER UPWelcomeGreet students by name as they enter. Ask themto put away their personal items and gathertogether.Read-Aloud TimeLeader: Say: Although the book I’m Tryingto Love Spiders has nonfiction elements, thefictional style of the illustrations, captions,and text add humor to the book. Show a fewexamples of this humorous style in the book.(Examples: Hides in plain sight by looking likebird poop. Yuck!, or Me Spiders 4eva.)Students Try It: Students will work to illustratethe bug they wrote about in the previousTM & Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved. LitLeague Leader’s Guidecopyright 2018 by Pam Allyn, LLC. Published by Scholastic Inc.LitLeague LeaderGuide G4 12 21 fixer.indd 15Students Try It: Give students time to selecta bug or other “critter” they fear and to write afew of its superpowers in their Student WorkoutBooks. Encourage students to read theirsentences aloud afterward, since the act ofdoing so will help encourage confidence.session, using the same comic style ofBethany Barton. Encourage students to includehumorous text and captions in their illustrations.WORK OUTIndependent Reading TimeGuide students to choose Independent Readingactivities from their Student Workout Books,and help them select appropriate books fromthe Independent Reading Library that matchtheir chosen tasks.COOL DOWNGroup TimeChoose an activity from the Songs and Gamesmenu.Unit 7: Confidence156/18/18 5:04 PM

Kindness16TrouperWritten by Meg KearneyIllustrated by E. B. LewisStrength Builder: This story will help your students observekindness in action, as it manifests itself in the relationshipbetween a human and a pet.MATERIALS Trouper (leader’s copy andcopies for students) Writing paper, crayons,and pencilsSESSION 1STRENGTH: KindnessPOWER UPbehave in unkind ways? How do you wish theywould act instead?WelcomeGreet students by name as they enter. Ask themto put away their personal items and gathertogether.Read-Aloud TimeLeader: Introduce the book Trouper to studentsand inform them that this book was chosen asa model for the Strength of Kindness. Displaythe front cover, and ask students to examine thepicture and make a prediction about what thebook will be about. Next, turn to the title page.Say: If you have not already guessed, this dogis Trouper. The word trouper is used to describesomeone who persists through difficult timeswithout giving up or complaining. What do younotice about Trouper? (Be sure students noticethat he has only three legs.) Why do you thinkTrouper might be a good name for this dog?Read the story, including the true biographicalinformation about Trouper. Say: This book waschosen for kindness lessons, yet there are someexamples of unkindness in it. Who is not kind inthis book? Why do you think these characters32 Student Workout Books Independent Reading Library Chart paper or whiteboardLitLeagueLitLeague LeaderGuide G4 32 41 fixer.indd 32Students Try It: Say: Although there are someexamples of unkind behavior, there are alsoexamples of great kindness in this book. Whichcharacters demonstrated kindness? How werethey kind? Direct students to jot down theirresponses in their Student Workout Book andshare aloud. Ask: Do you know anyone who hasrescued a pet? Would you do so? Why or whynot?WORK OUTIndependent Reading TimeGuide students to choose Independent Readingactivities from their Student Workout Books,and help them select appropriate books fromthe Independent Reading Library that matchtheir chosen tasks.COOL DOWNGroup TimeChoose an activity from the Songs and Gamesmenu.TM & Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved. LitLeague Leader’s Guide copyright 2018 by Pam Allyn, LLC. Publishedby Scholastic Inc. Trouper by Meg Kearney, illustrated by E. B. Lewis. Text copyright 2013 by Meg Kearney. Illustrationscopyright 2013 by E. B. Lewis. Published by Scholastic Inc.6/18/18 5:23 PM

SESSION 2SKILL: Creative ComparisonsPOWER UPWelcomeGreet students by name as they enter. Ask themto put away their personal items and gathertogether.Read-Aloud TimeLeader: Reread Trouper. Revisit the pagesthat begin with “My heart was a cold, starlessnight—until your face shone through the barslike a mini sun.” Say: The author makes somevery unexpected comparisons here! Authorsoften make comparisons like this because theycan deepen the reader’s understanding ofthe story. Guide students to understand thatTrouper’s mood was cold and dark. He wasfeeling sad because he had not been adopted.Ask: If you could compare yourself to an animal,what would it be, and why? I would comparemyself to a bee because I am really busy and flitfrom activity to activity like a bee visits flowers.Students Try It: Have students think of ananimal and why they are similar to it. Providetwo types of sentence frames. Explain that thefirst is a simile, and the second is a metaphor.They may choose whichever types they like.I am like a     because    .I am a     because    .Challenge students to create severalcomparisons, then share with the group.WORK OUTIndependent Reading TimeGuide students to choose Independent Readingactivities from their Student Workout Books,and help them select appropriate books fromthe Independent Reading Library that matchtheir chosen tasks.COOL DOWNGroup TimeChoose an activity from the Songs and Gamesmenu.SESSION 3ENGAGEMENT: Puppy PlaywritingPOWER UPHunter: Umm.steak!WelcomeBig Bear: I love a good steak!Greet students by name as they enter. Ask themto put away their personal items and gathertogether.Students Try It: Challenge students to writeplays from the perspective of the group of dogs.They are to write lines as if the dogs could talk.They should choose two to eight dogs from thelist to include as characters in their play.Read-Aloud TimeLeader: Revisit the pages in the story whereTrouper names all of the dog friends in theshelter. Display their names for students to see:Hunter, Tugger, Digger, Dice, Big Bear, SweetGirl, Curley, Boo, Trouper. Show the studentssome of the pictures that show the dogs, andask them to imagine what the animals might sayif they could talk. Model how to write this in playform. Explain how each heading identifies whois speaking. Important actions may be includedin brackets.[The dog catcher dangles a steak in front of thepack.]TM & Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved. LitLeague Leader’s Guidecopyright 2018 by Pam Allyn, LLC. Published by Scholastic Inc.LitLeague LeaderGuide G4 32 41 fixer.indd 33WORK OUTIndependent Reading TimeGuide students to choose Independent Readingactivities from their Student Workout Books,and help them select appropriate books fromthe Independent Reading Library that matchtheir chosen tasks.COOL DOWNGroup TimeChoose an activity from the Songs and Gamesmenu.Unit 16: Kindness336/18/18 5:23 PM